Baseball



May 29 1928.

J. H. GRADY BASEBALL Filed Dec. 24, 1926 A 7 TOE/v5 5 5 Patented May 29,1928.

UTIBITED STATES PATENT 0mm JOHN H. GRADY, OF sI'. LOUIS, MISSOURI,ASSIGNGR r0 5. H. Gnnn'sr MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURLCORPORATION OF MISSOURI.

BASEBALL.

Application 'fiierl December 24, 1526. Serial No. H8949.

This-invention relates to baseballs of the type that are knowncommercially as Ollicial league balls.

Balls of the kind referred to consist of a spherical-shaped coresurrounded by a wrapping or layer oftightly wound yarn, which, in turn,is encased in a leather cover, the core usually consisting of a smallball constructed of solid rubber or cork, or a solid spherical-shapedcork member encased in a rubber shell. Due to the fact that such a coreis relatively soft, it is the general practice in winding the yarnaround the core to start the winding operation with yarn maintained at asufficiently loose tension to prevent the core from being squeezed outof its original spherical shape, and increase the tension on the yarn asthe winding operation proceeds so as to impart the proper degree ofhardness to the ball and make it of the proper weight and size.

One serious objection to a baseball constructed in this manner is thatthe relatively loose yarn immediately adjacent the core and therelatively soft or easily compressible material from which the core isconstructed, permits the core to shift slightly, deform or tend toflatten when the ball is struck a blow with a bat, thus throwing theball out' of balance. I

Another objection is that the ball is apt to become soft when in use,due to the uneven tension of the yarn and the shifting or deformation inthe shape of the core, and still another objection is that therelatively soft core absorbs so much of the shock which the ball issubjected to when it is struck with a hat, that the full force on theball is not utilized to produce the result which it is desired toobtain, i. e., speed and great distance.

I have discovered that if a baseball of the general type mentioned, i.e., one having a body portion constructed principally from tightly woundyarn or other suitable fibrous material, is provided with a core, which,in addition to having some resiliency, is also relatively hard, that theabove-mentioned inherent objections of the conventional ofiicial leagueball now in general use are overcome.

To this end I have devised a baseball trate the preferred form of myinvention,

and in which Figure 1 is a view of the complete ball in elevation andFigure 2 a cross section on the line 2-2 of Figure 1. A designates asolid, spherical-shaped member that constitutes the center of myimproved ball, which member is constructed from material that has a highdegree of hardness and also some resiliency. One material that I havediscovered to possess these two characteristics is vulcanized spongerubber, subjected to pressure or treatment so as to makeit very hard,and accordingly, I prefer to construct the center member A of the ballfrom vulcanized sponge rubber, treated so as to make it hard. In thepreferred form of my invention, as herein illustrated, the center memberA is encased in a shell B of pure gum rubber that is vulcanized aroundthe member A, but I wish it to be understood that my broad idea is notlimited to a baseball provided with a core of this exact construction. Alayer or wrapping C of yarn or other suitable fibrous material is woundtightly around the core of the ball so as to produce a ball of theproper size, weight and degree of hardness, and in the winding Operationthe yarn or other material that is used to constitute the wrapping C ismaintained at a uniform tension throughout the entire winding Operationso that this portion of the ball will be of uniform density throughoutits, entire area.

The fibrous wrapping O is encased inan outer cover D which usually willbe formed from tanned horse hide or some other suitable flexiblematerial.

A baseball of the construction above described will retain its hardness,due to the fact that the fibrous wrapping immediately adjacent the coreis of the same density throughout its entire area; it will not lose itsbalance or shape, because the core cannot shift out of position, and isso hard that it Will not deform or tend to flatten When the ball'issubjected to a sharp blow, and it Will travel a greater distance and ata higher speed than the conventional official league ball, on account ofthe fact that very little of the shock or blow to which the ball issubjected When it comes in contact With a bat is taken up or absorbed bythe core of the ball which the fibrous Wrapping surrounds.

Having thus described my invention, what 15 I claim as new and desire tosecure by Let ters Patent is A baseball composed of a solid cylindricalshaped core constructed from vulcanized throughout the entire Windingoperation,

and an outer cover of flexible material that encases said yarn.

JOHN H GR A'DY.

